Former Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown’s official cause of death has been revealed.
The Okanogan County Coroner’s Office confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, June 3, that Brown died by suicide. His family has been notified of the findings.
Days after his death, the Coroner’s Office shared new details regarding the discovery of Brown’s remains in a Washington state river on Saturday, May 30, confirming to Us that the deceased adult male recovered from a location south of Oroville, Washington, was indeed Brown following reports that he had gone missing.
Investigators discovered “an individual observed floating face down in the river,” per a press release. “Initial efforts to confirm and retrieve the individual were unsuccessful due to fast-moving river conditions, and search operations continued over the following days.”
The coroner performed an autopsy after his body was found. Matt’s brother Noah Brown said he was the one to identify the person. “My oldest brother, Matthew Brown, has passed away,” he shared in a statement via Instagram.
Bear Brown, another brother and member of the reality TV family, referenced Matt’s addiction struggles in a TikTok video. “I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly,” Bear, 38, said. “He struggled for a long time, as I’ve mentioned. And I was so worried he was going to end up like OD’d or something like that. I didn’t think that he would hurt himself.”
He was preceded in death by his father, family patriarch Billy Brown, who died at 68 in 2021. His cause of death was cardiac arrest triggered by a seizure.
Matt was a regular fixture on the hit Discovery Channel series from its premiere in 2014 until 2019.
After leaving the show behind, he kept a low profile and distanced himself from much of the Brown family while sharing some updates via his social media accounts.
While speaking out about his addiction struggles in 2016, Matt said he “could see myself spiraling” before entering an inpatient rehabilitation program.
“I started drinking lightly and then it got to be more and more,” he told People at the time. “That’s when I saw the problem around the corner, and I didn’t want to be one of those guys.”
Matt is survived by his mother, Ami, his brothers, Noah, Bear, Joshua “Bam Bam” Brown, Gabriel “Gabe” Brown, as well as his sisters, Amora Jean “Bird” Brown and Merry Christmas Kathryn Raindrop “Rain” Brown.
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